


first snow

by crosspolination



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas Fluff, Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 12:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16810279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crosspolination/pseuds/crosspolination
Summary: On the fourth day of snow in Insomnia, Prompto makes Noctis get out of bed, get festive, and be his boyfriend, in that exact order.





	first snow

**Author's Note:**

> merry CHRISTMAS its december 2nd which means its literally CHRISTMAS damn,, also like there's no christ in ffxv so it's all shiva holidays bc shiva > ifrit. ifrit sucks ass  
> oh and happy 2nd anniversary ffxv

_Ouch._

As _fun_ and as _wonderful_ that it is to be inside Noctis’ mind, he wishes it wasn’t such an ass to him all the time. The pressure in his leg gets heavier the longer it goes on, but he’s been doing a pretty great job at ignoring it. Of course, he’d be doing an even better job, had he not gone ‘ouch’ every five seconds, as if to remind himself his leg is actually hurting.

This is absolutely winter’s fault. Noctis’ is _not_ a big fan of cold weathers, or humid weathers, or the weather right when it’s about to rain: it’s the clearest reminder that he has Eos’ most fucked up body to date. He presses his hands against his temple, trying to keep calm. Being mad at himself and at his own physical reactions won’t get him anywhere. He _knows_ that.

Snow falls, settles in comfortably on top of the roof of every building, makes the streets look prettier, it makes everything feel classy. He’s wrapped in two blankets and it is practically impossible for him to fit more pieces of clothing - he’s already wearing a hoodie, a long-sleeved shirt underneath the hoodie, the warmest sweatpants, and the most comfortable socks he owns. Heat therapy is good for pains, he reminds himself as he walks back from the balcony.

Good thing: Noctis is getting better at handling his body when it starts failing him in cold, inconvenient temperatures.

Bad thing: Noctis still doesn’t know how to ask for help or let people see him when everything hurts.

His phone keeps buzzing on the table. Messages, most likely to be Prompto, come in every five seconds. He appreciates his best friend sending him messages, but he has no idea how to explain the fact he’s not in the best conditions to interact with anyone. Noctis takes a deep breath, silently cursing past accidents, and trying to remind himself that it’s not really his fault.

His phone buzzes again.

Noctis grabs the phone, flopping down on the sofa, hoping to find some relief on his back now that it’s all arched against the cushions. He doesn’t, as expected.

_noct noct noct noct noct_ , comes messages from Prompto, in fact. _buddy. do you need anything? haven’t heard from you since snow started falling._

When did the snow begin? Noctis hurriedly looks up articles about Insomnia’s first snow of the year, only to find out it’s been four days ago. Oh, shit. Guess a lot happens when you get too caught up on your own feelings and issues. It’s kind of weird no one has started a royal search for him by this point, but he guesses since he still replied every now and then, it just simply wasn’t so awful. Besides, it’s snowing. Probably no one’s looking for him because it’s snowing and they know he likes to sleep in. Okay, that made sense.

Noctis stares at his phone for a few good minutes. Does he need anything? A different body, maybe. A good massage. Hot cocoa, but like, not prepared by him, because nothing he prepares tastes as good as when other people prepare it with love. Noctis realizes he needs a lot of things. He also needs a pizza and good comfort food to let go of the bitterness over pains.

So he unlocks his phone.

_Are you free right now?_

_Nothing’s wrong I just.._

_Kinda need some things_

_yeah!!_

_you at your place?_

_what do you need?_

_Pizza_

_A massage_

_Hot cocoa_

_hot cocoa and pizza?_

_do you need a lifetime supply of toilet rolls?_

_Why_

_bc of the diarrhea you’re gonna get like that_

_but hey i aint judging_

_be there in 20 mins_

_Thanks Prompto_

_You’re the best_

_gods i really am_

_i joke haha it’s ok!! see u soon_

During the passing twenty minutes, Noctis debates if it really was a good idea to invite someone over and not expect things to just follow their natural way: let the pains go and contact people when he’s not moping over cold temperatures being harsh on him. When he’s deciding that no, it really wasn’t a good idea because he has no idea how to entertain people when he’s barely able to move, the door opens.

Thankfully, he knows it’s Prompto, because Ignis had already managed to give him access to his apartment anytime he wanted. He hears him shuffling out of his shoes, depositing bags on the table, and Noctis really would stand up to go greet him, but he’s afraid he ran out of moving strength to stand up. So he simply yells out, “Hey!”

Prompto comes to see him and the familiar mop of blond hair and warm smile makes Noctis stop regretting inviting him. He waves at Noctis and goes, “Noct, you look like shit.”

“Good shit?”

“Debatable,” Prompto hums, sitting on the other sofa. “For someone with low standards, you’d look like good shit.”

“And how high are your standards?”

“Like. Unexistent. Like. Below the ground, kinda,” Prompto laughs, “so yeah, you look like good shit.”

Noctis feels himself smiling, and perhaps it really wasn’t a bad idea to have someone over. “Did you get the food?”

“Yeah, it’s heating up.” Prompto puts his feet over the little table in front of them, not looking too bothered by the cold. He’s also underneath a million layers of clothing, and unlike Noctis, he’s probably not that sensitive to the cold. “Where you’ve been, dude? Kinda freaked me out when you suddenly just vanished from earth.”

“I still replied to messages,” Noctis says, shrugging. “Basically not missing.”

“Sure. What happened?”

He gestures vaguely to his leg, not knowing really well how to explain. “Hurts. Back hurts. Can’t really move.”

“Oh,” Prompto looks like he regrets asking what happened. It’s not a big deal, really. Noctis is over it, or that’s what he likes to say. “You should’ve told me, dude. I would’ve come here and kept you company, maybe offer you a massage!”

Noctis frowns at him. “You literally would break my leg if you tried to massage me!”

“You don’t know _anything_ ,” Prompto shakes his head, “Maybe I’m great at giving massages! Not like you’ll ever find out with that attitude.”

He laughs again. Then, he adds, “I wasn’t really feeling up for having company.”

“How about now?”

Noctis sighs a little. “You’re good company for now.”

“I’m honored,” Prompto chuckles somewhat nervously. Noctis wonders what’s gotten into him, because now he looks a little flushed, and then he’s standing up. “I’m gonna check on the pizza!”

Had Noctis not been in a lot of pain right there, he would’ve dug deeper onto why he suddenly looked so flushed, but he’s really hungry _and_ in pain, so he accepts the pizza willingly when it comes to him.

The rest of the evening is really hazy to him. He’s still half-asleep, ready to pass out and not focus on the pains on his body. This becomes easier to do when Prompto finally sits down on the same sofa as him, putting his legs on his lap (“This doesn’t hurt you, right?” “No, Prompto, it’s not like I broke my leg,” “Dude. I’m scared!”), and then he’s hit with the biggest wave of sleepiness.

He thinks he’s done enough process for today. Inviting over? Mid-pain crisis? When he’s not at his best? He’s triumphing, really.

Prompto won’t mind him napping after a pizza, so he falls asleep without previous warning.

-

When he wakes up again, he still can’t tell if it’s night or morning. Prompto is standing on the kitchen again, heating up something, so it’s probably the morning. Or night. Maybe it’s three in the morning, to call it a middle ground.

Noctis sits up, arching his back again. How many times was he going to do that until his back believed that it wasn’t injured anymore? Way too many, that’s the answer.

“What time is it?” Noctis asks, rubbing his eyes.

“Like… ten in the morning,” Prompto smiles. “I’ve made us hot cocoa for breakfast!”

“Did you just wake up?”

“Yeah, like five minutes ago.” He makes his way to the sofa again, handing Noctis the cup and sitting down with him. “Hey, dude, don’t get offended but…”

“But?”

“Doesn’t sleep in the sofa make your condition worse? I’m just saying. Maybe you just need to sleep on the bed or something? I don’t think sleeping there is the best for you.”

“Nah,” Noctis shrugs, taking a sip of the hot cocoa. The warmth spreads through him. If he were to be a bit more dramatic, he’d say it got rid of all the pains already. “It doesn’t matter if I sleep on the bed or on the sofa. I’ve tried. The sofa was just comfortable last night…”

“I see,” Prompto sips his own mug and they both stay quiet for a second. Prompto perks up again, “Want to go shopping with me?”

“Hm?”

“If you can’t walk, I’ll literally give you a piggyback ride.”

That makes Noctis snort loudly. “You? And your chicken arms? As if!”

“Is that a _challenge_ ,” Prompto smiles at him, all smug and cocky already. Noctis already feels like this morning is going to be a lot better than the past ones. “We’ll see after we finish the hot cocoa.”

“Can’t wait.”

And as promised, once the mugs are set on the table with Prompto _promising_ he was going to wash them once they came back from the store, he’s standing in front of Noctis, back facing him. He sits down a little and extends his arms so Noctis can fit his legs underneath them. “Hop on!”

This is ridiculous.

There is _no_ way Prompto can hold him for that long, ever. None of them have ever tried holding the other in this way, actually, but Noctis knows he’s not the lightest person in the universe. He ends up thinking _fuck it_ and willingly climbs onto Prompto’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck like his whole life depended on it.

“ _Prompto_ ,” he hisses, “if you drop me you come down with me.”

“Dude,” Prompto’s voice comes out strained. Probably because he’s still holding onto his neck. He leans his head forward a bit and lowers his hands near Prompto’s chest. “I won’t drop you. You’re so dramatic.”

He holds onto Noctis’ legs a bit tighter, and worriedly he asks, “This doesn’t hurt you, right?”

If anything, the extra pressure on his leg relieves the pain momentarily. He lets out a relieved sigh against Prompto’s shoulder and shakes his head. “Go on, keep your promise.”

Surprisingly, he holds himself extremely well. Noctis keeps giggling on his shoulder, while Prompto keeps boasting his ego about being oh-so-strong-and-mighty. Yeah, Noctis’ morning is going a _lot_ better than expected. Still, when they get out, Noctis tells Prompto to get him down.

“You sure you can walk, Noct?” he asks, sounding beyond careful and worried. Noctis both hates and loves it. “I really have no problem carrying you to the store.”

“I’m fine,” Noctis says, and he tries to mean it as much as he can. “There’s no way to get better unless I start moving and being active. The faster I get used to it, the easier it gets for it to go away.”

He hesitates to say something. He really wants to tell Prompto he wants to hold onto him as they walk, but he’s too scared. That’s either going to come off as Noctis being too vulnerable and weak, which he’d rather not come off, or he’s going to come off as too clingy. Noctis hasn’t talked to Prompto face-to-face in a few days, he’ll hate it if he scares Prompto away by being too clingy.

It’s like Prompto can read his mind, because he extends his arm with a bright smile. “Lean on me as we walk, okay? It’s gonna be far easier. Also, it’s cold, so the extra warmth will be nice!”

Prompto feels warmer than he usually feels. Noctis says this with experience of always being side-hugged by Prompto, clinging onto him, and just always being attached at his hip. His lips curl up slightly, daring to hold his hand as they make their way through the street, maybe a bit slower than they usually do but Noctis can’t even find it in him to be frustrated at his condition. He’s enjoying this, really. He only hopes Prompto is enjoying this too.

By the way he holds Noctis’ hand; he’s inclined to believe he is enjoying this.

“Your apartment absolutely lacks the festive spirit,” he tells Noctis once they arrive to the store. “We’re going to buy pretty lights. And a small tree. And all the things one needs to celebrate Shiva’s festivities like we’re supposed to.”

“I didn’t take you to be a big fan of it,” Noctis replies, because it’s true. In all the time he’s known Prompto, he’s never seen him this excited over Shiva’s festivities. It’s the typical end of the year celebration where they exchange gifts and celebrate Shiva’s snowy blessing, or curse, in Noctis’ case. “I like these lights.”

“Yellow ones, good taste,” he puts them on the cart and slowly keeps pushing forward with Noctis next to him. “I also feel like you could use a bit of self-care today.”

“Self-care?” Noctis snorts. “What are you, a magazine?”

“Laugh all you want but it really helps,” Prompto smiles again. Noctis believes him. “It helps _me_ whenever I’m really sad, so, I consider them to be helpful.”

Noctis believes him even more and doesn’t question him when he drops a bunch of things on the cart. He can’t understand half of them, Noctis is pretty sure he’s never worn a facemask in his _life_ , but his cart sure was getting filled with them and with more decorations. He’s getting a bit giddy at the thought of using the decorations and putting a little tree in the center of the table, just to make his nights less lonely when it’s all prettily decorated.

Maybe Prompto _did_ have a point.

He knocks on wood mentally, but even the pains seem to fade a little because of how much better his mood is getting. He gets a bit overwhelmed by emotion, then, the fact that Prompto’s trying his best to make Noctis feel comfortable despite the current discomfort he’s in, and takes a deep breath— he will _not_ get emotional in the middle of a store, thank you.

Prompto grabs him one ugly sweater that says **_Shiving you a very Ifritful holiday_** and one for him that says **_frost queen shiva slayyyy_**. Noctis hates both of them equally, and that makes Prompto laugh even more when he’s carrying them home in the shopping bags. Noctis is back on holding his arm and carrying the other bags on his other arm, even though he feels already a bit better and could walk by himself, slowly, but could do it.

He just enjoys being next to Prompto.

Prompto seems to enjoy the same thing.

-

Decorating is way more fun than Noctis gives it credit for. Prompto decides to put on some music, making Noctis do small dances to it — not too strong in case it triggers any type of long prolonged pain, and not too aggressive either. He just sways along while Prompto absolutely takes advantage of all his healthy limbs and makes Noctis laugh even harder.

The tiny, tiny tree they bought ends on top of the counter, with them using even smaller decorations and laughing at how _small_ it all is. Prompto drops some decorations way too many times, and Noctis ends up losing some ribbons underneath the sofa, which means he’ll never recover them again. They belonged to the sofa now.

Noctis’ lounge is beyond festive and bright now.

His soul kind of feels like that, too.

“Okay, self-care time,” Prompto pushes Noctis gently down on the sofa, ripping off the bag containing the facemask. He shows it to Noctis, smiling. “Look. It looks like a panda.”

“That’s so ridiculously cute,” Noctis smiles, pushing his hair back with a hair clip and leaning down against the cushions. “I’m ready.”

He keeps his eyes closed as Prompto applies the facemask. “You’re gonna feel all soft and good in seconds, Noct. It’s legit the best thing in my life.”

He giggles slightly. He wants to say he’s already been feeling good, but he’s scared that talking will actually fuck up any facemask effect, so he keeps his mouth quiet. Prompto keeps humming along to songs, doing his own very Prompto things in his apartment, and with his eyes closed it’s almost expected and inevitable that Noctis falls asleep again.

He wakes up feeling better than he’s felt in all week. For once, he’s not convinced his body is out in a mission to absolutely destroy him, and when he reaches out to see if the facemask is still on, he realizes it’s gone. All he can feel now is how soft his cheeks are, and when he tries to find Prompto, he realizes he’s just on his phone on the other sofa.

“Hey,” he says. “What time is it?”

“Don’t worry, you had a micronap for once,” Prompto smiles. “It’s been like thirty minutes.”

“Sorry I keep falling asleep,” he grins, a bit sheepish. “I don’t feel bad anymore, I just like napping.”

“You don’t feel bad anymore?” the smile turns into a big, full-of-love grin. “Told you self-care helped!”

Noctis genuinely cracks up at that. “Okay, yeah, you might have a point.” He makes a small pause. “You helped, too.”

“Me? Nah, I didn’t do much. I just kinda came here to annoy you.”

Noctis throws a cushion to his face, because he can.

“You did _a lot_ ,” he says. “You got me out of bed and got me to stop thinking about how much everything hurt. It’s…” he swallows a bit. “It means a lot to me, really. I felt less lonely.”

“Aw,” Prompto stands up and joins him on the bigger sofa. He slowly snuggles up next to Noctis, and Noctis welcomes the warmth with open arms (quite literally). “You know I’m always here if you need me, right? Just so you’re not alone whenever something hurts.”

Noctis swallows again. Suddenly his throat really feels too dry. “It’s okay, you don’t have to. I’m not going to force my best friend to take care of me so often.”

Prompt frowns. “Why not?”

“Because…” He really would love to explain the whole thing. That he’s not too fond of being seen so unable to handle by himself or in so much pain. He really just wants to make his loved ones happy, and that sight was never a happy one. “Because those are things that like, couples do,” he lies instead.

Prompto hits his arm, but lightly. “Then I’ll be your boyfriend.”

“Ye — what?” Noctis’ eyes widen, staring at Prompto extremely alarmed. “What?”

“Is that not obvious that I want to?” Prompto sounds _nervous_. He has that one tone of voice that tells Noctis he maybe didn’t mean to say this, but it’s too late for him to take it back. He’s laughing nervously now, shifting away a bit from Noctis. “If that’s like, your only objection—”

“You _really_ want to?” Noctis squints at him. “You’re not just saying that as an accident?”

“I mean it kind of is an accident,” Prompto laughs again, “this really isn’t how I planned to tell you my feelings.”

“H- _how_ did you?”

“Like, for real? Never,” Noctis keeps being hit with truck after truck of new information. He’s going to combust in a few seconds. “But I guess this works too? Ha. Ha, yeah… ha. Yeah.”

“Me too,” Noctis replies finally when he realizes he should, in fact, say it back. Like he’s been meaning to say for the past four years of his life. “The boyfriend thing. Me too.”

Now it’s Prompto’s turn to squint again. “Are you serious right now?”

“This…” Noctis really can’t help but laugh. “This is the weirdest confession I’ve had in my life. Yes, I’m serious. I also want to be your boyfriend.”

Once they manage to get past the shock, they both start laughing at the same time, and after that they both finally manage to kiss.

Only to get Noctis to laugh again. “This really is the weirdest confession I’ve had.”

“I’m taking it, dude.” Prompto puts his arms around Noctis, sighing. “Now you have no excuse to let me here whenever something hurts. I _will_ be here.”

That’s probably the most comforting thing Noctis has ever heard.

He hugs back Prompto and feels the last of body aches fade away with it.

**Author's Note:**

> ok so hi again,, the holidays have started!!! and i bet it's mostly cold wherever someone is reading is, so if it is, pls stay Warm. it rly is no joke for me whenever its rly cold or humid my whole body is out in a mission to destroy me so thank god i actually get summer in december and now snow. if i got snow i would Perish
> 
> and also since its holidayyys i want peeps,, whoever stumbles upon this fic to remember to just be kind to urself. reach out to people. self-care can sound ridiculous and stupid and too tumblr-y sometimes but pls,, take care of urselves!!! always brigns the best results 
> 
> also i havent written anything in a year and a few months i am sorry if everything's rusty n ooc i jsut,, wanted to use this as a reminder to pls take care of urselves! stay warm/cool and always remember hwo loved u are!! all nice thingies
> 
> lets b friends [here](http://twitter.com/joshriku/)  
> if u dont mind me crying abt how much i love a certain person  
> or [tumblr](http://joshrikus.tumblr.com/)  
> if u just wanna see reblogs n tag crying,, yea  
> have a nice december everyone i lovvvvvv u ♥ i should sleep its 2 am,, AND THANKS FOR READING


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